Onigumo
by H. S. Hines
Summary: The story of Onigumo Naraku. Please read warnings before the story. Don't review if you don't read and if you read please review!


_Disclaimer: I own nothing. Warnings: this story contains violence, including severe child abuse. Please don't read if this might upset you. It also implies non-con of a minor, although is not graphic._

Rating: M  
Genre: Angst, Horror  
Feedback: I would love to know what you think! Just please keep your flames to yourself unless they are just that humorous they must be shared.

_Notes: Written when I should have been sleeping. I was thinking about doing an origin story for Sesshomaru and for some reason, one popped into my head for Naraku. I was thinking about his name and how no woman could have named her child "demon spider" when I thought perhaps that was part of why he is so evil in the first place. So, this story, much like the stories of many serial killers, was born._

**Onigumo**

The woman ran through the dark trees, stumbling over loose ground and rocks. Fear rode her like the night on her back, slamming her heart into her chest, stealing her breath. She couldn't stop; He would catch her. He was only a few steps behind; she could hear the heavy breaths and hard footfalls. The scent of sake choked her already sparse breath and her foot caught under a root. Pain lanced through her foot, ankle and leg, then into her face as it made contact with the ground.

He had her.

He turned her over, shoving her kimono up. It was too small for her, she had just had a growth spurt, but her parents were poor and couldn't afford the material to make her a new one. She fought the man, shoving him away, biting into his flesh. She spat it back out, disgusted by the acrid taste in her mouth. He slapped her and beat her head into the ground until she was dizzy. She prayed to her ancestors for strength, but even they couldn't help her now.

She stumbled home, crying and trying to get inside before her parents found her. Unfortunately, her father was awake, worried about her. When she stepped in and he saw the blood running down her legs, he began beating her. She cried and begged him to stop, telling him that she hadn't wanted it, that she had fought the man. But she was only a child, barely thirteen and he had been a fully-grown man. What could she have been expected to do? Her father didn't care; he beat her for being spoiled, for destroying his dreams. Who would want her now? She was dirty, damaged property. No man would pay for her now.

And he cast her out, giving her a short katana. He told her to make things right and to save herself from the shame. She took it and ran into the woods that had betrayed her earlier in the night. She found an old house, abandoned from long ago and stepped inside. It was dark, hot and as dirty as she. She knelt on the floor, weeping and unsheathed the sword, aiming for her stomach. But her courage failed her and she dropped the weapon on the dirty floor. She was a failure.

She made the old house her own over the next few months. She knew how to take care of herself well enough. She had just become a woman and her father was considering which man to marry her to in order to improve their family. Now that would never happen, but she still had the skills of a woman. She was distressed when her body began swelling and she cut down on her food, worrying about getting fat. But as her stomach grew, it dawned on her that she was pregnant. It came as a horrible shock to her when she went into labor.

It happened right after a spider had bitten her. She was cross and tired and the spider bit her, then the pain started. At first, she thought the spider was poisonous and she would die. But the pain seemed to be in the same place as her woman's troubles always were. She didn't know what to do, so she left the house, but she couldn't go back to the village. She sat on her knees and cried for a long time before something popped inside her and water flowed between her legs. She squatted on the ground and screamed to the heavens as she pushed the little life from her body.

Disgusted with him, she lifted him and hissed, "You are the bane of my existence. You are the spider that bit me. You are spawned from a demon and will undoubtedly be a demon like Him. So I name you Onigumo." She took the katana her father had given her to end her life and cut the cord connecting her to the baby. It began bleeding and she quickly took a string and tied it tightly, afraid of killing him. She hated him, but she could not bring herself to kill him anymore than she could kill herself. Perhaps, one day, he could end both their shame.

Onigumo did not live a good life. He was always hungry as a child and his mother would beat him if he cried. She would scream at him and tell him how worthless he was. How he had ruined both their lives and didn't deserve the fish she brought him, or the vegetables or the rice she occasionally stole from the village. When he was four, she sent him into the village at night to steal rice and better food than they had. He hated his mother as much as she hated him.

"You will be just like him," she said as she beat him when he was six. "You will hurt everyone. You will make them suffer, as I suffer." He would beg her to stop when he was very young, but by the time he was three, he knew it would make the beating worse. So he would take it in silence, stifling the tears that wanted to flow. When he was ten, he saw an older girl down at the lake near their house, bathing. He grew excited and became afraid, remembering the horribly story of his conception that his mother told him, over and over.

He feared he would try to ravage the girl, so he ran back to his house to hide in the corner that he slept in. His mother saw him, trying to cover his shame in his too-small kimono and she screamed. She took the katana that was always there in the middle of their house and swung it at him. He held out his hand to block it and she sliced his palm open. He stood and backed up and she sliced again, this time hitting him in the place that had caused his fear in the first place. He screamed and she stepped back in horror, her hand covering her mouth.

He knew she had meant to do it and he became so angry that he saw only red. He ripped the blade from her hands and pushed it through her body. Realizing what he had done, he froze, his face only inches from hers and he watched her eyes as she died. He expected her to scream or cry, but instead, for the first time, he saw her smile.

"You did what I didn't have the courage to do," she whispered. "Now do the same to yourself." Then she fell to the ground, on her knees and being held up only by his hands on the hilt of the sword. He watched the light drain out of her eyes and he touched her face. She was still warm and he pulled the katana out of her. She fell to the floor and he lied down next to her, watching her eyes to see if they moved again. But she never moved again and eventually, he grew tired of waiting and he kissed her forehead, which had grown cold. He had stopped bleeding and while the pain was still there, he could walk if he did it slowly.

"Good-bye, mother. Perhaps we will meet in Hell one day," he said. Then he left the house, taking only the katana and its sheath. He traveled to the village he had pillaged his whole life, interested in seeing other people. He was greeted by a man who asked where he came from. "From the old house in the forest," he answered and the man's expression grew dark. He lifted the tool he was carrying and swung it at the boy. Onigumo ducked and fled from the man. "What have I done?" he asked.

"You are the child of my disgraced daughter!" he yelled. "I knew she survived and we all heard your birth. I had hoped you would kill her," the man hissed.

"I did," the boy admitted. "Jut now." He lifted the bloody katana that he had kept next to his clothing, unwilling to ruin the sheath by replacing it when it was bloody. The man's eyes went wide and he swung the tool again. "But I did what you wanted!" the boy cried, deflecting the blow.

"You monster!" the man called and hit the boy again. Onigumo grew tired of the abuse and stepped forward, stabbing the katana out, as he had done with his mother. The man fell in the same manner, but Onigumo didn't wait to watch him die. Instead, he turned and left the village, knowing that he was unwelcome in this world. That was fine with him. If the world hated him so, he hated it even more and they would all pay one day.

He grew into a young man and took up an army. He plundered villages, burned them to the ground and learned to love the scent of a battle. He never touched a woman, much as he wanted to sometimes, for the fear his mother had put in him. One day, he came across a beautiful woman in a new village. He watched her and felt almost as if his heart would burst at the sight of her.

She had beautiful black hair; brown, hooded eyes and a mysterious smile that never left her lips. He realized she was a miko and knew he had no chance trying to seduce her, monster that he was. At least, that was what he believed until he saw a hanyo boy step up to her and take her hand. A rage filled him, to see the creature, less human than he, touching such a pure, beautiful woman.

He asked around about her and learned that she guarded something very precious that he had heard whispered of in legends. It was called the shikkon no tama and it was believed to grant wishes and power to the holder. He saw it on a necklace around her neck sometimes and he fantasized about it becoming as tainted as himself. He imagined it becoming as black as his heart and making her as evil as he. Then, he knew, he could take her from that hanyo brat that protected her.

He sent men to try to steal the jewel, knowing he would never have a chance with her if he took it himself and not liking the looks of the hanyo boy. One by one, they were slaughtered and he finally decided to send a bandit leader he had met, who controlled an entire army. His intention was to take the army and then the shikkon no tama after the hanyo killed the bandit.

Unfortunately, his plan backfired after he had taken control of the army and the man survived. The man ordered the army that Onigumo had finally obtained for himself to beat him to death. It was no problem for him to take the beating and feign his own death after they burned the building around him. He was very strong from the beatings his mother had always given him. She had tried to kill him several times and always turned away at the last moment, so he had learned to survive when he was supposed to die long before.

This was terrible, though. The pain was tremendous and when he was flung from a cliff, believed dead, he felt every jolt on the way to the ground. He was certain that he would die this time and he lay in wait of the final moments of his life. His mother would finally be satisfied and he was almost looking forward to seeing how she fared in hell when he began to wonder if he was in heaven. The miko he had fallen in love with stood over him, examining his wounds. Soon, she had dressed them and she sat and talked to him, hiding him in a cave. She knew he was an evil man, everyone always did.

His bones were crushed and he knew he would never be able to move again. The thought that he wouldn't be able to even try to gain the beautiful miko's favor drove him to madness and he called out to Hell and anyone who would listen to save him. He heard the youkai answer him; offer him the deal of a lifetime. He didn't even hesitate to take it. As they filled his body and he felt their hatred for the woman he loved, he realized his mistake, but it was too late. On that day, Onigumo died. He didn't meet his mother in hell, though. He was trapped in the flesh of what was no longer his body. His spirit merged with the new owner of this body and Onigumo simply ceased to be.

On that day, Naraku was born.

**_Fin. _**

_Wow, I need to get to bed. It's 4:20 am and I have to start work at 7am. So blame all mistakes on the time and my exhaustion._


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